A blog about science fiction and fantasy novels, films and related matters

Tuesday, 1 May 2018

Screen time - a catch-up

A batch of (moderately) recent films:

Solace (2015)

In this 2015 thriller, Anthony Hopkins stars as a psychic
who has retired from assisting the FBI but is recalled by his old partner
(Jeffrey Dean Morgan) to work with him and his new partner (Abbie Cornish) to
track down a serial killer. It soon emerges that the killer is psychic too...

The plot sounds ordinary enough but this is a very good
film, dealing successfully with some fundamental issues concerning good and
evil, life and death. The acting is excellent, the dialogue thoughtful and
intelligent, and unlike most "superpowers" movies, this one is firmly
aimed at adults. Well worth watching.

*************************************

Deadpool (2016)

This is a rather different contribution to the Marvel
universe, featuring Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson, a terminally-ill former
special forces soldier, who is given an offer he can't refuse – not only a
cure, but boosted capabilities including the ability to heal from any injury
almost immediately.The treatment leaves
him hideously scarred and too ashamed to return to his girlfriend (Morena
Baccarin), so after escaping from the fate planned for him, he goes hunting the
man who deliberately left him scarred. He adopts a costume to cover his
appearance, along with the name Deadpool. What follows is the usual mayhem, with
car chases (and crashes, of course) fights and explosions.

What makes this film different is that it is played with
tongue firmly in cheek – the "hero" has a sardonic sense of humour
and frequently comments to the camera. In fact, there is a classic superhero in
the film – the X-Man Colossus – but he is shown as rather ponderous and
slow-witted, and so prudish that he recoils in horror when Angel Dust (Gina
Carano) suffers a "wardrobe malfunction" while fighting him. While
this is accurately described as a comedy thriller, some of the content might
not be regarded as suitable for family viewing. The rest of us can enjoy it,
though – it's one to watch again sometime.

*************************************

Pride and
Prejudice and Zombies (2016)

This is a real oddball of a movie based on a book of the
same title: a version of Jane Austen's famous Regency novel about social life,
transplanted into an alternative universe in which zombies have taken over
central London and are a constant threat to humanity. So the young women who
are centre stage in the story are no longer just hunting suitably eligible
husbands, they are also highly trained in martial arts so they can deal with
any outbreaks of zombieism. I must admit that it would not have occurred to me
to cast Lily James as a lethally feisty Elizabeth Bennet, but she makes a
remarkably convincing job of it. And as a bonus, the film also features Lena
Headey, enjoying herself after the gloom and doom of Game of Thrones. It's rather difficult to identify the target
audience for this story – it seems unlikely to appeal to fans of either Jane Austen
or zombie films, but I rather enjoyed it just the same!

*************************************

Rogue One: A
Star Wars Story (2016)

I still recall the enjoyment with which I watched the very
first Star Wars movie on its release – I have even seen it twice, a rare
accolade. I watched all of the rest of the series with varying degrees of
enthusiasm, ranging from diminished to non-existent (I am a natural completist,
and have had to learn the iron discipline of giving up on a declining series).
The 2014 film Episode VII - The Force
Awakens (reviewed on this blog in June 2016) showed a worthwhile return to
form, so of course I had to see the next one in the franchise.

Rogue One, for
those few who haven't been paying attention, is a stand-alone which slots into
the Star Wars story just before the original film (which is now Star Wars IV following an intergalactic
renumbering epic). Various familiar characters make cameo appearances,
including Darth Vader, Princess Leia and, of course, the Death Star. The focus
is on Jyn Erso (a rather curiously cast Felicity Jones), the daughter of the
Death Star's unwilling designer, who has to retrieve the contruction plans to
discover exactly how to get at the vulnerability created by her father.

There is a lot going on in this film. It starts by jumping
around between several different locations, each with its own crop of
characters, and continues at a breakneck pace thereafter. There is lots of
action, lots of shouting and lots of the frantic loud music which characterise Star Wars films. There is therefore very
little time for character development, or a strong story arc. As a result I
found it rather unengaging, and didn't really care about what happened to the
characters. Not as good as Episode VII,
but just about worth it for a wet evening with popcorn. It is unusual in one
respect: it thoroughly stomps all over Hollywood's normal preference for
"see-you-in-the-sequel" or, at worst, "happily-ever-after"
endings!

*************************************

Valerian (2017)

Luc Besson has had a prolific career as a director,
producing a lot of interesting films which are well worth seeing. So when I
settled down to watch Valerian and the
City of a Thousand Planets I expected a couple of hours of entertainment.

The bad news starts with a credibility problem concerning
the hero, who is supposedly a major in a special police unit with nine years of
experience, but is played by someone who looks, behaves, and sounds like a
teenager – and a rather irritating one at that. The film is 95% action, with
the usual good CGI which is routine nowadays, but for once I thought there
wasn't enough action; because when
the characters talked instead, their dialogue was amongst the most excruciating
I've heard in years, and had me cringing in my seat.

I soon concluded that the target audience must have been 13
year old boys with a fondness for special effects and no interest in real
people. Quite often, in films made for youngsters, there are elements that
adults can appreciate – but not this time.

*************************************

Wonder Woman
(2017)

I really don't have much to say about this one, because I
can't find anything to criticise. Everything about it is at least good, and in
the case of the two leads, excellent. The magnificent Gal Gadot was born to
play this role, and does so with great conviction. She dominates every scene
she appears in - around 80% of the film. More like this, please!

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Welcome to the SFF blog

I started this blog in order to post reviews and comments on Science Fiction and Fantasy (mostly books or films, but occasionally on more general issues such as publishing and marketing), and of course to alert those readers not yet aware of the delights which lie in store within the covers of my own novels...see below.

This remains the main purpose of this blog, but topics may also cover non-fiction issues which may be of interest to SFF enthusiasts. Longer articles, mostly taken from earlier blog posts, are listed below, along with a full index of all book, TV and film reviews.

I aim to post a new message once a month and welcome any comments or discussion. Enjoy!

Anthony G Williams

Scales

Click on photo to find out more, read reviews and download the whole book!

The Foresight War

Click on photo to find out more, read reviews and read the first chapters